An Earl and His Assistant
by BloodFireAlchEMisT
Summary: Formerly Visiting Lloyd's Family! Very new and improved. Rated M for later chapters. Lloyd takes Cecile to the Asplund Family Estate to meet his parents when they recieve a week off of work. A party and romance may change their relationship. But for the good or the bad has yet to be seen...
1. Asplund Family Estate

The car sped across the pavement as the bright summer sun shone down on the occupants. Lloyd Asplund and Cecile Croomy had somehow gotten a week's vacation and since Cecile had never met his family, Lloyd thought that it would be a good opportunity for her to go somewhere besides that stuffy lab.

"Ah!" he exclaimed excitedly."There it is. The Asplund family estate." Lloyd stated as they drew nearer. He turned to glance at his assistant, Miss Cecile Croomy, only to do a doubletake. Her mouth was slightly ajar and her eyes were huge.  
"Cecile?"  
"I-It's_huge_!" came her shocked voice. She leaned over towards him and said;  
"Y-You didn't tell me it would be this big! You said _'Don't worry__ Cecile. Bring__m__aybe a few sundresses__ and one fancy dress__' __that's_ what you told me!" Having never been in such luxury, Cecile had not expected the mansion she laid her eyes on and felt suddenly underdressed in her skirt and blouse. Lloyd laughed at her. This wasn't the first time he'd gotten that reaction from somebody upon them seeing his childhood home for the first time. The car stopped in front of a large, arched doorway and he stepped out, offering his had to Cecile. Taking it gently, she slowly stepped out as well, eye huge and curious as a child's.

Stepping, inside Lloyd watched Cecile glance around uneasily. He understood how it could be intimidating if you were not raised in such a place. From the tapistry covered walls and the polished, white tile, to the high sloping ceilings and the tall, rounded arches, the mansion was the depiction of the wealth that Cecile had not grown up around. A servant stood at the foot of the stairs and announced his parents.

"Lord and Lady Victor and Gabitha Asplund!" Cecile inhailed a sharp, nervous breath and Lloyd smiled up at his parents as they descended the staircase. His mother's hand was slid through his father's arm as she floated gracefully down the sky blue hair, streaked with slight gray and was pulled back, twisted severely into a French knot at the base of her neck. Her eyes were also blue. They were Lloyd's eyes, Cecile noted. His father's hair was the soft purple of his own and he had deep, golden eyes that seemed to smile and radiate all the gentleness of the world. Sideburns came down the side of his face to join into a beard, the same purple as his hair. His mother saw him and immediatly abandoned all of her royal morals. Grinning, she lifted her skirts and bolted down the rest of the stairs towards her only child.

"Oh Lloyd! My baby!" she pulled his face down and covered it with kisses while his father stood back and smiled at his wife's joy. Lloyd's father caught Cecile's eye and she quickly looked away, thinking to be respectful. However, he continued to give her a curious look as he took a step towards her. Suddenly, breaking into a huge grin, he scooped her up into his arms, engulfing her in a bear hug.

"Ah! So _you_ are Cecile Croomy! We have heard much about you from our son!" Lord Asplund was a big man. A good couple of inches taller than his son and definatly more muscular and larger around the waist. He had Lloyd's hair and smile, she noticed. Gabitha peered at her son.  
"Cecile Croomy?" Lloyd just nodded and smiled. With affirmation, Lady Asplund bustled over to Cecile, who was still in Victor's arms, smiled, and pecked her on the cheek. Cecile blinked.

"Welcome," she stated, "Welcome to our home! I am truly sorry to meet you and run my dear butmy husband and I must get ready for tonight's party. Lloyd will show you to your room. I hope you don't mind, but you will be in a room adjoined to his. It will be much easier. Especially since you just got here, no? We will see you at the party." Lord Asplund placed her gently on her feet and followed his wife out. Cecile stood and stared, blinking rapidly until Lloyd laughed. She turned and glared at him.  
"Just take me to my room Lloyd!" he laughed again at her tone and led her up the stairs.

* * *

**AN:** Alright! So this was FORMERLY known as Visiting Lloyd's Family. But as I re-read that story this evening, I was not at ALL happy with how it was written and the story plot. So basically, this is a re-write. They are still visiting Lloyd's family and there may still be some heart break but I'm not sure where it'll go right now. For now, just enjoy the new and very much improved version called An Earl and His Assistant :) Please let me know if you like this one better or worse than the first version. Though I'm sure finding it worse than the first will be impossible haha For those of you who were following VLF, I apologise. But I hope that all of you have found this story again with little trouble.

(^.^) ~BFA (^.^)


	2. Dancing With An Earl

_Thump  
_Cecile's duffle hit the ground just as her jaw did when she entered her temporary room. "Oh my…"

"I take it that you like it then?" she turned her head to look at Lloyd who was wearing a pleased smile.

"I-it's absolutely beautiful Lloyd!" she looked back at the room. The walls were a light red color and the drapes that hung were deep crimson. Cecile walked over the plush cream carpet and hesitantly sat on the edge of a king size bed. With sheets of deep crimson silk adorning it,the bed felt wonderful beneath her fingertips. She sighed and plopped back onto the bed, closing her eyes and relaxing for the first time since setting foot in the place. Lloyd silently went over to the side of the bed and looked down on her, hands in his pockets. He shook his head gently when he heard her soft, delicate snoring. Shaking her shoulder to wake her, he tutted at her. Her eyes opened and she groaned.

"Oh. Lloyd, why can't I sleep?" she glanced up at him sleepily.

"You can sleep later my dear. We have to get ready for the party." He turned his back as walked to the door adjoining their rooms before stopping and turning to her blank face. Smirking he said;  
"I'll be waiting with my father at the bottom of the staircase in an hour. Do be ready by then." Closing the door with a soft click, he left Cecile to figure herself out. Fidgeting on the bed, she thought of the dresses she brought. Would any of them be fit for this party?

A soft knock at her own bedroom door distracted her. Standing, she opened it only to gasp and bow politely.  
"Oh! Lady Asplund! You look beautiful ma'am!" Flustered, she moved to allow the lady of the house into the room.

"Please. Call me Gabitha." In her hand, Lloyd's mother carried a velvet garment bag. "I brought this for you my dear. Please do not get offended. I just did not think that Lloyd would remember to tell you about the party tonight and well…I felt an instant connection with you Cecile. I want you to wear this tonight." Laying the bag on the bed, she unzipped it and stepped aside for Cecile to inspect the dress. Cecile's violet eyes grew large and she stifled a gasp with her hand.

"Lady Asp-G-Gabitha!" She stuttered out when Lady Asplund gave her a look. "I-I can't accept this! This dress…is much too expensive and beautiful for someone like me to wear!" Gabitha's eyes narrowed a bit and she gently pushed Cecile to the bed.

"Do not ever say such a thing again Cecile. You're a very beautiful young woman! Besides, I **_want _**you to wear this dress…it was the dress that I was wearing when Lloyd's father proposed to me…and it is time to pass it on. I would never have wanted to before but meeting you downstairs…there's something about you that reminds me of myself Cecile. Please…honor me by wearing this tonight." Cecile was speechless. Her eyes fogged over and she stood, wrapping her arms around the older woman and crying softly. Gabitha smiled gently and rubbed her back.

"Now, now my dear. We have much to do in the next hour. Let us not stall anymore." With a determined nod, Cecile shakily picked up the dress and moved to change as Gabitha readied make up and bobby pins.

An hour later, Lloyd and his father stood at the foot of the stairs. The guests were set to arrive after another half an hour but both men wondered what had become of the women.

"What are they doing up there that takes so long?" Lloyd's question was punctuated with an exasperated sigh and his father smiled, clapping a hand on his shoulder, making Lloyd stumble a bit before fixing his favored green and gold suit.

"You most definitely have not been accustomed to this. You will be however. You'll spend half your life waiting on a woman, son. But let me tell you. They are worth every second you wait." Lloyd smiled as he saw his father's eyes glaze over, knowing he thought of his beloved mother.

"And that is why I married you, Darling. Such a wonderful man." Both men started and turned to watch as Lady Asplund situated herself at the top of the steps. Her husband smiled gently at her.

"Beautiful as ever my dear Gabby." Smiling, Gabitha drew back into the shadows a bit and reached for something.

"Come now dear. Our boys have waited to be bathed in our beauty long enough." And as she drew forth a timid looking Cecile, Lloyd's breath caught in his chest.

Cecile stood in front of him, a vision to his scientific eyes. The dress she wore was white, with thin, delicate gold lace down the front, tapering to a point at her waist. There were straps that hung down her delicate shoulders. It flowed out behind her in a long train, whispy white lace trailing out and tied like a corset up the back with white leather chords. It clung to her and stopped right under her underarms, going straight across her chest. She had her short hair pinned in a small bun at the back of her head, the pieces framing her face were curled, and there were plain white gloves adorning her small hands, stopping just under her 's gaze finally met Cecile's and she flushed a delicate pink, matching her tinted lips. His reverie broke when his father stepped forward.

"My…Miss Cecile! You look absolutely stunning! I never thought I would see that dress again, especially not on somebody other than Gabitha but I am quite glad that it made a reappearance on you! You flatter it wonderfully." Lord Asplund bent over Cecile's small frame and kissed a gloved knuckle, causing her to blush a deeper shade of pink, before kissing his wife gently. Both smiled at each other and Cecile's heart ached for what they had as she smiled, watching them. One of the butlers announced the first guests and Lloyd's parents excused themselves to greet them. They left Lloyd standing, quite handsomely, at the bottom of the stairs with Cecile on the last step, fidgeting with her gloved fingers.

"Lloyd?" he snapped out of his trance and met her eyes once more."How does it-"

"Beautiful," Lloyd blurted before she could even finish her question. "It…_you _look beautiful Miss Cecile." Cecile's lips parted and she bowed her head, smiling shyly. Lloyd straightened himself and took a step forward, bowing at the waist and extending a gloved hand as party guests strolled to the ballroom in the background, many of them stopping to admire the beautiful young woman and the young Earl.  
"Please honor me by allowing me to escort you this evening my lady." When a slim hand slipped softly into his, Lloyd gently curled his long fingers around it, lifting his head to Cecile's pink-powdered face. He stepped back enough to help her down the last step before securing her hand in the crook of his elbow. Together, the entered the doors of the decent sized ballroom, many women, mostly older, were smiling and cooing over how cute they looked as a pair. Cecile's blush spread down her neck and she shifted closer to Lloyd, not used to being in the spotlight. Lloyd's free hand slid up to rest over her's in his elbow and he gave a reassuring squeeze.

They eventually found his parents among the crowd and chatted with them a bit, Gabitha giving Cecile comforting advice on the party, who to talk to and how, and what types of dances she could expect. Of course, Cecile grew shaky again as she had forgotten that there would be dancing and she was not the most elegant of dancers.

However, as the first waltz was strung up, Lloyd's gentle hand at the small her back kept her steady, leading her seamlessly through the movements even as she stepped on his foot a time or two, face red as she apologized. It was well into the third dance before she stopped assaulting his poor feet and the beginning of the fifth when she could finally do nothing but meet his blue gaze. Dancing the night away with Lloyd kept her from thinking about what kind of people she was around. The kind of people that she herself had never grown up around. But she somehow felt as if she fit into this world easier than she ever believed she could. Lloyd also helped because, being himself, he made quiet cracks about the high class people around them. Saying things about Lord Rumblton's excessive beard and then perhaps a hit at Lady Highland's cake topper of a dress kept them chuckling to themselves a majority of the dances.

Eventually, Cecile excused herself from Lloyd's arms and went to sit in the corner as he went to fetch them some Champaign. Sitting in the darker corner of the dimming room allowed Cecile to remove her feet from the two inch, golden prisons they were trapped in. She was rubbing life back into her aching feet when Lloyd returned.  
"My word! Cecile, how can you walk in those torturous contraptions?" He scrunched his nose at the offending 'contraptions' as he placed her flute on the table, taking a sip from his own.

"I'm a woman." She stated, smiling sweetly at him as if that would explain everything. Lloyd only shook his head as Cecile lifted her flute and sipped the bubbly drink, sighing as is slid over her tongue. Finally, Lloyd sat down across from Cecile, waving a butler to bring them some of the food from the spread laid out. For perhaps the next hour, the two sat in their corner of the world, eating and talking about everything from the Lancelot to the gardens of the Asplund estate.

"The flowers are beautiful. And there is such a variety. I'll take you out there tomorrow afternoon if you'd like." Cecile readily agreed as the band struck up a slow song. Their eyes met across the small table and Lloyd stood slowly, eyes never leaving her's, as he offered his hand, bowing slightly. Cecile smiled and slipped her hand into his once more. However, the two did not leave their corner. Instead, they opted to stay where they were, Lloyd's arms wrapping gently around Cecile's small body while Cecile leaned into his wry frame, resting her head against his shoulder. Her hair tickled his neck slightly as they swayed slowly and he moved his lips to rest just over her ear, feeling something in his chest that he had never felt before. He was not one for human affections. He used people as parts of his machines. But Cecile had always been different since she did not allow herself to be ignored or used. But this…**_this _**was different. Suddenly, violet was meeting blue as Cecile tilted her head. She smiled at him after a moment. A sweet smile that had Lloyd's shattered, science-loving heart fluttering against his rib cage. Swallowing, Lloyd gently tucked a curl behind her ear and whispered over the music;

"Let's get you back to your room, ne? It's getting late…" Cecile's smile shrunk a bit tiredly.

"Thank you. I don't how much longer I can stay on my feet to be honest." Lloyd nodded and waited for her to grab her shoes. Gently, he took her hand in his and led her slowly up the stairs, his mother's gaze and smile trained on them the entire way.

* * *

**A****N:**Yeah. So DEFINITELY different than the first version, ne? ;p But, good or bad different? That's for you guys to tell me I guess! I'm personally very proud of it. I made the romace actually come into the story and I think I did it slowly and built the tension. Wait till chapter 3 is out :D Love you guys!  
(^.^) ~BFA (^.^)


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